This was our first cruise with Azamara but won't be our last. We took a 7 night cruise from Athens visiting the Greek Isles of Kos, Rhodes, Santorini, Crete and Naupolin on the mainland and Ephesus via Kusadasi in Turkey with the ship sailing about 2/3s full. Given the closeness of all the ports, we were in dock till at least 8pm each evening, but often much later.

We flew into Athens the day before from London and had a night at the Hilton Athens before we boarded the ship. This gave us a chance to explore and rest up before we joined the ship the next day, embarkation was easy and we were on board within 15 minutes of arriving at the port. The lack of the need to queue was something that featured throughout the whole cruise. The longest we queued for anything was 5 minutes whilst we waited for a tender. Having had our last cruise on a 3k passenger ship, you really did notice the difference.

The ship itself was elegantly decorated with all public rooms kept extremely well presented. The cabin was well set out and we used the balcony for breakfast each morning. The bathroom was compact but with adequate storage space. It was maintained by our Cabin Steward Caitano very well and nothing was too much trouble for him. Read more